Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Appointment (02/09/12)
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TITLE: Ready Or Not, Here They Come! | Previous Challenge Entry
By Doug Laird
02/14/12 -
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John 3:6a teaches it is via the human process that God established that bodies are prepared for the human soul to indwell during our appointed span of time (Psalms 31:5) on the Earth.
Our biological parents may or may not have had a baby in mind when what would become our humanity was conceived, but God creates (John 3:6b) and places each soul in the specific body of His choosing.
When making this selection, the omniscience of God is fully aware of the political, social, familial, racial, geographical, gender, historical, and economic environments that each soul will experience.
The omniscience of God is fully aware of what advantages or disadvantages (humanly speaking) that the specific body will have that He chooses for each soul to indwell.
Accordingly, the body that God chose for each one of us is perfect for the divine purposes that each one of us was created to fulfill.
If there are to be any changes made, God will supply the means (Phil. 4:19).
There is a divine appointment(s) during which time each soul is presented with the Gospel Message and afforded the opportunity to respond.
We can choose to be moral and/or religious at any time, but we can only become spiritually regenerated (Titus 3:5) in response to the pre-salvation work of God the Holy Spirit.
Every soul that chooses to reject the Gospel has an appointment in the Court of Heaven and will spend all of eternity in what the Bible calls the lake of fire (Rev. 20: 13-15).
Advancing disciples have a daily appointment with the God the Holy Spirit for the intake and refining of Bible Doctrine.
Whenever a born again believer commits a post salvation sin, he/she automatically generates the need for an immediate appointment with God the Father (1John 1:9).
If/when this appointment is kept, he/she recovers the lost fellowship (2Cor. 13:14) with God and once again has access to the enabling John 15:5 power to produce divine good.
Advancing disciples will have an appointment for God the Holy Spirit to reveal to him/her his/her spiritual gift (1Cor.12:18)and accompanying ministry.
The advancing disciples schedule regular appointments for a 1Cor. 13:5 self-examination.
Advancing disciples have daily appointments that God the Holy Spirit arranges for the evangelization of unbelievers and the edification of fellow-believers within the disciple’s personal periphery.
The God given, free will allows each soul to choose to ignore, postpone or neglect many of the divine appointments that the general and individual plan of God calls for, but there are two divine appointments that cannot and will not be rescheduled.
The timing and circumstances of our natural birth and the departure of our souls are in the hands of God (Psalms 31:15).
No one arrives on or departs from this earth one second sooner or one second later than what God decrees.
Prayers (Isaiah 38:5) and good health decisions (1Timothy 4:8) that may contribute to the quantity or quality of life were all known to God when He authored the Divine Decree (Psalms 56:8).
Homicide, suicide, disease, or trauma cannot materialize unless God allows it.
Loving one’s family or one’s earthly life more than loving the plan of God is what disqualifies the majority of born again believers from entering into or remaining in discipleship (Luke 14:26).
For the earthly-minded person, the Hebrews 9:27 appointment with physical death is foreboding, whereas an advancing disciple sees the going home of a born again believer to be a precious event (Psalms 116:15).
Death and/or the process of dying can provide an advancing disciple with his/her last and perhaps his/her greatest non-verbal testimony of his/her faith.
I can tell you from personal experience that surviving a brush with death can be one of the most liberating events that a born again believer can experience this side of Heaven.
Paul’s (2Cor. 12:2) experience allowed his belief in Heaven to go from faith to experience.
While one might desire such an experience, we bring greater glory to God when we believe His Word without the need for tangible evidence (John 20:29).
One’s perspective of his/her appointment with death reveals much about where he/she is in his/her walk with God.
In closing, consider that what we do with the divine appointments along the way is what prepares us for the final appointment we have with death.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
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Personally, I find it distracting to use he/she. I think it is fine to use the universal he or even switch and in one paragraph use she, the next he. You covered a lot of scriptures with a limited word count which might make it overwhelming for some readers, instead maybe you could focus on just a few and go into greater detail and give life examples to help more people understand you.
I truly like the way you approached the topic. Many have quoted the Hebrews verse but you went deeper and approached it in an inventive way. I can't even begin to tell you how timely your words are to my hurting heart right this second. The Holy Spirit worked in my heart through your obedience. Bless you.